To know when people like your submissions, answer your questions, reply to you, etc., please create a free account and log in. Premium membership is also available for just $12 a year, which removes all adverts, prioritises your submissions, and more.

Corrected entry: In the scene in the small cave inside Regula, Savik tries and fails to communicate with the Enterprise, then says that all frequencies are "still being jammed." However, a short time later when Kirk contacts Spock from the Genesis cave, his signal goes through.

Correction:Long distance communications are jammed. Savik is unaware that the Enterprise is nearby and waiting in silence until the signal from Kirk.

Corrected entry: Kirk's birthday visit from McCoy in his personal quarters overlooking San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is soundtracked by an audible foghorn, though there's no fog. Atmospheric as though this may be, I know for a fact [as a resident of this place] that no foghorn will sound when there's no fog and the sky's full of stars.

Correction:This film is set in the 23rd century. There is no way to know it was a fog horn. It could merely be a similar sounding alert for something else. With the technology available, fog would hardly impair the ability to detect what is around them.

Corrected entry: After the insect crawls out of Chekov's ear and Khan beams up Genesis, Admiral Kirk says to Khan, "you have Genesis, but you don't have me. You were going to kill me. You're going to have to come down here". Khan beamed up Genesis, so why didn't he beam up Kirk who was only a few feet away? I know he said, "perhaps I no longer need to try. I've done worse than kill you: I've hurt you" which indicates that Khan accepted his failure to kill Kirk: it was not premeditated to leave him there. Further, if he didn't want to kill him, why did he try later in the movie? (00:15:20)

Correction:Khan isn't "accepting his failure" to kill Kirk, he's simply found an alternative that he considers to be even more poetic, that of marooning Kirk, just as Kirk marooned him after their first encounter. As revenge, this is much more satisfying than simply killing his enemy, which is very swift, leaving Kirk behind with plenty of time to contemplate the fact that Khan beat him. Later, once he learns that Kirk has escaped, Khan reverts to the idea of simply killing him.

Corrected entry: When searching for life-forms on Ceti Alpha 5, they only detect some minor signal, some proto-life that may be transplantable. They never explain how they did not detect Khan and his followers marooned on the planet.

Correction:Khan and his followers was exactly what they were detecting. They mention that it was a weak reading, because Khan and the other augments were practically the only life on the entire planet. They only speculated that it might be a particle of preanimate matter caught in the matrix, but that was only speculation. It was Khan and his crew the whole time.

Corrected entry: In the final battle with Reliant, Spock states that Khan, while brilliant, demonstrates that his thinking is two-dimensional, prompting Kirk to have Sulu take the ship "down" below Reliant's flight path, only to come "up" behind it later, allowing Khan's dramatic defeat.The problem here is that Khan isn't from the 19th century, he's from the late 20th century, where air combat is common, as is combat in 3 dimensions under water. Even if Khan fought most or even all of his battles on land, he is a genius, and would certainly have knowledge of aerial combat, even if not direct experience with it. Not to mention there's no way Reliant never had to maneuver in 3 dimensions while he was on it. To suggest he could not think in such a manner is absurd. (01:29:45)

Correction:Having knowledge of air combat and having experience with air combat are two completely different things. In all of their encounters they are fighting on the same plane. Spock is making a valid observation; he isn't saying that Khan 'could not' think in three dimensions, he is saying that Khan is demonstrating two-dimensional thinking.

Correction:Chekov never met Khan onscreen. They could have met when Khan was exploring the ship. Also, Kirk gave Khan access to the ships computer, he might have read the officer's personnel files looking for people he could suborn to help his attempted takeover of the Enterprise. This would allow him to know Chekov's name and appearance even if they hadn't met face to face.

Corrected entry: On Ceti, Khan states that Kirk never checked on their progress - and there is no reason or film evidence to doubt it. Later, Bones starts to inform Kirk that Khan blames Kirk for the death (of his wife), but Kirk interrupts and says, "I know what he blames me for". How?

Correction:Kirk is furious over Khan's attack, and feeling guilty over both the cadets he got killed by ignoring regs and never checking on Khan's people. He doesn't want to hear any more about it, he just wants to move on and resolve the situation. Further, as Marla McGivers is nowhere in sight, he's probably already figured out she's at the top of Khan's 'why I hate Kirk list'.

Corrected entry: During the final battle with the Reliant, Spock points out that Khan's flaw is his "two dimensional thinking". Why then, does the Enterprise have to move "up" on the Z-axis, to come up behind Reliant and be on the same plane before she can fire? Surely starships can fire weapons in three dimensions? It has nothing to do with "seeing" Reliant on the viewscreen either, since the viewer is a composite of sensor readings, not a window.

Correction:They're too far apart, so they can't see each other; the Mutara nebula restricts sensor range massively, so all they can do is search and hope that they get close enough to spot the other. Spock's observation is that Khan's inexperience is leading him to only search in two dimensions, when the ships are actually separated vertically. Kirk therefore orders the Enterprise to move along the z-axis to get back within sensor range of the Reliant, closing on the smaller ship from a direction that Khan would be unlikely to anticipate.

Corrected entry: In almost all of the outer space shots the stars in the distant background "twinkle". When looking into space from earth stars appear to twinkle because of the distortion caused by the atmosphere; when viewed from space all of the stars should have a consistent glow - no twinkling.

Corrected entry: Towards the end of the movie, when the Enterprise and Reliant are in the nebula, Spock observes that Khan is plagued by 'two dimensional thinking,' i.e. he's using the Reliant as if on a flat surface, rather than in three dimensional space. Kirk then orders Sulu to set a course of "Z minus 10,000" and we see the Enterprise descending, with Reliant visible below her. Moments later, the Enterprise appears behind the Reliant, rising up from below in direct contradiction to the previous shot as well as the order Kirk gave.

Correction:That is not what happened, very few films are shown in real time. Kirk gave the order, and we see Enterprise descend. This begins a search pattern focusing on Z rather than X & Y. We don't hear the rest of Kirk's orders, just like we didn't hear any of his earlier orders regarding the previous search pattern. Eventually during the search Enterprise comes up behind Reliant.

Corrected entry: During the first battle between "Enterprise" and "Reliant", the Enterprise destroys the dome above the impulse engines on Reliant's saucer-section. This dome is then shown to be undamaged in the very next exterior shot of Reliant as it moves away from camera.

Correction:The center section of the dome is smashed, leaving some of the "glass" intact around the edges. The shot of the Reliant leaving only shows a side view of the vessel and a very tiny section of the glass dome that stayed in place along the port side. They never show the dome fully intact.

Corrected entry: After Kahn reveals himself to Kirk and company, he gives sixty seconds to gather the information that he wants on Genesis. From that declaration to the actual "Time's Up." is just over two minutes even though it would appear that he was using some device to do the actual timing (he appears to be shutting off a stopwatch or something when he says that their time is up). On the Director's Edition, the time index is about a minute and 40 seconds later than the original release. (00:52:25 - 00:53:30)

Correction:They don't show Khan setting any kind of timer; he's just looking at a clock to time the minute. Then his second in command starts a conversation with him, followed by Kirk talking to him. It's likely that with the distractions he forgot which minute he started his countdown on, or just decided to let Kirk have the extra minute after pleading for the extra time. Character choice/mistake.

Corrected entry: When the Enterprise first encounters the Reliant, we see several screen shots of the Reliant on the Enterprise viewscreen, and several shots of the Enterprise on Reliant's viewscreen. The puzzling thing is, if you watch very closely to the shots of the Enterprise on the Reliant's viewscreen, you will notice that the stars are actually moving BACKWARD, as if the Reliant were in a slow reverse. Obviously this is an editing blooper since Khan just ordered that the ship slow to one half impulse power, which still moves the ship forward.

Correction:Trek canon has shown the viewscreens are not the same as windows, and that the screens can show us views from vantage points where no camera exists. These vantage points also do not need to be stationary. As such, the views of Enterprise on Reliant's screen are taking Enterprise's speed into account, and the 'vantage point' is backing up to keep her 'in the shot' while Reliant is still moving forward.

Corrected entry: After sending David and the others into the other room, Kirk has a nice and private talk with Carol. They should have been even more discreet. Chekov is still right there and is quite awake because he is holding a bandage of some sort to his ear the whole time. Just a short time earlier, in fact, you can hear McCoy saying "He's coming around," and then he hands Chekov the bandage. And even if Kirk had forgotten that Chekhov was there, he would have said something. They are friends and Chekhov would not want to embarrass his friend by listening in on a private conversation.

Correction:Yes, but they still had the conversation. They might have assumed Chekhov is loopy on painkillers. Chekhov is several feet behind them and has damage to one of his ears as well, he might not have heard a thing. It might be a socially awkward situation, but couldn't really be called a mistake.

Corrected entry: Maybe not a mistake per se, but certainly odd: A sign posted at the rear of the bridge says "No Smoking On The Bridge At Any Time." A good idea to be sure, but at no time in any incarnation of "Star Trek", whether the TV versions or the theatrical releases has any character ever been shown to smoke anything. Gene Roddenberry' Utopian vision of the future didn't include any of our contemporary vices, so it is odd that a sign like this would ever be posted. However, it's possible that this was simply a warning to the cast and crew on set, and had no impact on the fictional characters and their universe. [This was actually a deliberate act on the part of the director, Nick Meyers. He likes putting elements that give a common, real-world sense to them. He's also the one that gave the crew bunk beds in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.]

Correction:There are vices shown in "Roddenberry's Utopian vision of the future". Alcohol and synthehol is consumed on several occasions, and people still get drunk and rowdy. And people can be seen smoking on holodecks (Data when portraying Sherlock Holmes, in Picards Dixon Hill programs, Riker's jazz club, etc.)

Corrected entry: The simulation of the "Genesis Effect" is shown on a relatively small planetoid, and other than the initial fireball, there is not much 'drama' about the explosive aspects of the effect. However, when the Genesis Device explodes aboard the Reliant at the end of the film, the resultant explosion looks to be violent enough to dwarf and completely destroy even a small sized solar system. At full warp speed, the Enterprise barely escapes, and even that is at great distance from 'ground zero'('space zero'?). This sure does not resemble the gentle, 'friendly' effect shown on the demonstration tape! If Kahn hadn't interfered with the plans, how is it reasonably possible that the crew of the Reliant was going to detonate the device and get away safely?

Correction:The Genesis Device takes existing matter and restructures it according to its matrix. The device was intended to be released on a planetoid or small moon where there would be plenty of available matter. Instead, it was detonated within a nebula where the matter was not concentrated, so the effects were much more widespread. In any case, there is nothing to indicate Reliant would have been the ship to activate the Genesis device, its mission was only to find a suitable planet to use. The scientists might have used a probe or some other remote testing device. Finally, the Enterprise makes a slim escape only because it only went to warp moments before detonation. Had it been able to use the full four minutes the Genesis device allots, it would have gotten away in more than sufficient time.

Corrected entry: When Joachim is telling Kahn why they can't return fire on the Enterprise, it's because "They've damaged the photon control and the warp drive. We must withdraw." Notice how his eyes aren't looking at Khan until he says "We must withdraw." indicating that he's reading his lines from an off-screen cue card.

Correction:Alternatively, he is looking at the damage readouts to give the correct information. Once he has read the displayed information, he turns to his captain and gives his advice/opinion.

Corrected entry: When Spock dies, the left side of his body and the left side of his head rest against the transparent shield. In the next scene, the back of his body and the back of his head rest on the shield. The position of Captain Kirk relative to the position of Spock also changes between these scenes.

Correction:Look more closely, before the scene changes to outside the enclosure, Spock's body shifts and it is his shoulderblade and not his back that rests against the transparency. It is the same position of both his head and his back that we see outside of the transparency.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

This movie is basically a retelling of another story. When the camera first pans the shelves of the Botany Bay it stops and centers on one book on the shelf in particular.....Moby Dick. That is what this movie is about. Khan is Ahab, The Enterprise is Moby Dick. At one point in the book the whale is circling Ahab's ship on the ocean. At one point in the movie the Enterprise is circling the Reliant (Khan's ship) in the Motara Nebula. Ahab had a scar up one entire side of his body given to him by an encounter with the Whale. At the end of the movie Khan has a burn mark/scar up one side of his body as well. Not to mention that Khan quotes from Moby Dick throughout the movie. The last quote he utters is one that Ahab uttered "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee, for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."